Future With You
by Mariia10
Summary: Calleigh drove home in a haze of the day's events, Austin and Eric. She needed to talk to him. Post-ep 10x01. Fluff EC.


AN: This is my first story in a long, long time. I was inspired to write a little after watching the premiere of season 10. I hope you like it

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><p>Future With You<p>

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><p>It wasn't that she hadn't thought of it before. She had. Plenty of times.<p>

But somehow, this was so different - different in a way that made Calleigh's heart ache. Different in a way that Calleigh finally realized that if she ever wanted her own family, she'd have to do something about it sooner rather than later.

She'd never thought she wanted children. She just wasn't the type she'd always assumed. It wasn't that she didn't like children – she did – it just…was not in her plans at all. Had never been. Could she blame her own parents for feeling that way? She could, and she did. Being a child of her parents she knew exactly why she felt this way.

Being a daughter of parents that almost didn't care about her during her growth definitely made her upset and she was never inspired to have one of her own. She'd always told herself she didn't want to have her own, simply because she was afraid she wouldn't be a good enough mom – she hadn't exactly had an ideal of a mother.

Austin was the sweetest boy and what he'd said to her had come as a complete surprise. She'd been lost for words, really.

"_I thought maybe we could stay with you for a while." _

She thought maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad idea, but again and as always her job came in the way.

Maybe it was time for her to sacrifice her job just a little to settle down and have a family?

Five years ago that thought hadn't ever crossed Calleigh's mind, but sitting in the locker room after todays events nothing had ever been printed clearer in front of her eyes. They were as clear as the day and Calleigh realized – scary as it was – that she wanted nothing else than just that.

She wanted a family.

And she wanted one with Eric. If he had not been where he was in her life, she might have not been ready. But there was something about him, something about him that made everything easy. He was _always _there when she needed him. He'd always been there. He was the one she thought with a slim smile playing across her lips. Eric was the one – she just knew.

The good part was that he was already hers. They'd been through a lot the last year and months, but now it had all seemed to settle just a bit. They'd agree to take it slow after everything that had happened and she had to admit that after all the past events it was all so much better now. Better in a way that she felt she was almost even more in love with him now than she'd been before – not that she thought it was possible – but they were just doing so good now.

She knew she couldn't sit in the locker room all night so she stood up, reached for her purse and found her cellphone. She closed her locker and texted Eric on her way out, wondering when he was going to be home. When she'd reached her car he'd answered that he would be out within an hour. She drove home in a haze of the day's events and Eric. Wondering how Eric would react to what she was going to talk to him about. She knew he wanted a family and she knew he wanted nothing else than to be a father, but still there was something inside of her that was a bit unsettling. Maybe she was just nervous.

She never talked about these things. She knew after she and Eric got together she'd managed to open more and talk about things, but it was always easier when Eric lead her on. Tonight she was going to have to take initiative and lead herself. She wasn't good at that, but knew and realized that it was going to be one of the most important conversations that she was going to have with him. It had to be done.

When she reached home she quickly changed in to something a bit more comfortable and went to the laundry room. She'd forgotten to put on a wash that morning so she quickly threw what needed to be washed in to the machine. She smiled knowingly when she realized that both Eric's and her clothes were cleaning together. She thought it was a bit cheeky to smile and get so coy about it, but she didn't really care at all. She didn't start dinner because she remembered Eric mentioning something about takeout that morning.

While waiting for Eric she didn't do anything. Couldn't do anything but think about today, the case and Austin. Standing by the window in the living room she was gazing out watching the waves hitting the shore as the sun was going down. She almost didn't hear Eric when he wandered in to the living room. "Hey babe." He said and Calleigh turned unable not to smile at his lovely welcoming grin.

"Hey," she said quietly reaching for his hand as he approached her. When he was close enough she wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her cheek against his chest. Taken a little by surprise Eric didn't hesitate half a second before wrapping his big strong arms around her in return, figuring she needed it.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked. She wasn't usually this needy, not lately she'd been. He'd thought they had been just fine – he knew they'd been doing just fine – she had told him exactly that one night on the couch after watching the nine o'clock news. She was happy she'd said with a shy smile. He really hoped with all of his heart that it hadn't changed.

Calleigh drew in a breath before pulling back to look at him. She nodded, "Yeah, I just really need to talk to you about something." She met his eyes and already she could tell they were big and concerned with worry.

"Are you okay?" He asked immediately, pulling even more back to get a good look at her. She looked okay, her eyes were a bit sad he figured, but that was it. She didn't look tired in any way – she looked as though she had something she wanted to say.

"Yes," She said smiling cocking her head adoringly to the side. "But there's something I need to tell you." Voice quiet and shy. She took Eric's hand and moved them towards the couch.

Eric hesitated a second. Calleigh never acted like this and he knew that what she was going to say was important. He sat down next to her and gave her a worried look. "Cal, you're making me kind of worried right now."

She took a deep breath. The last thing she wanted to do was to make Eric worried. "It's about the case today." She started quietly. He was staring at her like nothing else in the world mattered but her. She looked down at her hands and bit her lower lip. "The boy " she continued, "Austin, when I told him he was going to have a new family with his sister he… - " she hesitated a second taking another breath. "He wondered why it had to be that family." She finished looking up at Eric.

Eric looked at her with a questioning look not really understanding what she was going at. "Why did he say that?"

Calleigh didn't reply – couldn't reply. She was going to cry she thought, and she absolutely hated crying. She always felt so open and vulnerable when she did. Two of which things she was not. "Cal – why did he say that?" He tried again. His arm reached out to her face, slowly tucking a piece of long blonde hair behind her ear.

She forced herself to pull it together when Eric's hand moved from behind her ear to her cheek. Her hand reached up and automatically their fingers laced together in perfection. "Because.." she looked up at Eric, "because he wondered if he and his sister could stay with me for a while."

An oh was formed on Eric's lips as he finally understood. Before he could say anything though, Calleigh had moved their linked hands in to her lap, and she was talking again. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to say no." She whispered.

"Calleigh." Eric murmured slowly, looking intensely at her as he squeezed her hand. "Were you thinking that you wanted to say yes?"

"No" she looked at him, "yes – I don't know, Eric." She sighed knowingly. "I guess it just really made me think about," She knew if she wanted Eric to know how she felt about this she was going to have to talk, no matter how tough it was. Eric was looking at her patiently. He was always so good with her, knowing when to give her time and knowing when to talk and what to say. He always knew what to do, and now was so exception.

"It made me think about us." She finally said. "And me." She looked at him. "I mean… I never thought I wanted children. It was never in my plans." Calleigh said "But now… now it's all I can think about." She bit her lip looking down, moving one arm up to her face to move the tear that had just fallen. "What I'm trying to say Eric is that," she met his eyes and she swore to God she'd never thought she'd say this. Ever. "Is that I want a family." She nodded and she couldn't help but smile when she saw Eric's face lit up.

"You want a family?" He asked again, double-checking. It was too good to be true he thought because this meant that Calleigh wanted a family with him. She wanted to have his children. Wanted them to be together to have a family. Which probably meant that he was going to marry her someday. And that had been his dream for the longest of times.

Calleigh nodded and smiled. "I do." She said. "With you."

Eric let go of her hand, ran one hand through her soft, golden locks and leaned in to kiss her. The kiss wasn't rushed, it was slow and romantic and Calleigh couldn't help but think that this was perfect. "I love you." He said kissing her once more before moving his face to her left ear. "You make me so happy, you know that right?" He whispered tracing kisses down her neck.

Calleigh couldn't fight the urge to moan as his kisses continued. "Eric?" She got his attention – well, she always had it - and looked him in the eyes. "Are you sure?" Wanting to be one hundred percent sure he was with her on this. She couldn't think about what would happen if he all of a sudden one day changed his mind.

His eyes softened. "Because I need to know you're with me on this – that you're not going to- " She wasn't able to finish before he interrupted her again.

"Calleigh" He placed a finger on her soft lips. "I have never wanted anything as much as I want you, Cal" He stated softly and honest. "Children or not, as long as I'm with you I'm happy okay?" He looked at her moist eyes again. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I could never ever leave what we have." He reached out his palm and cupped her cheek. "All I want is to make you happy." Stroking her cheek with his thumb he smiled. "Just to hear you say that you want to have a family with me makes me feel like the happiest man in the world." And he didn't hesitate a second thinking that right in this moment he _was _the happiest.

Calleigh couldn't utter a word. This man, this lovely, lovely man – she loved him, she couldn't believe how lucky she was. "Eric" She whispered. She moved her arms around his neck and hugged him. Wrapping her arms as tight as she could around him she still didn't feel close enough. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Cal." He pulled back from the hug to look at her. "We're really doing this."

"I know" She said smiling, placing her hands on either side of his beautiful face. She couldn't believe how lucky she was. "Thank you for being you."


End file.
